Moments
by WithNoFear
Summary: A next-generation 100 Themes Challenge. Will mainly focus on a James Sirius Potter/OC pairing and pairings from my other Fanfics. Rated T for language and some fluffy stuff between the couples.
1. 15 Silence

15. Silence

Starring: Phoebe Jenkins and James Sirius Potter

She stared at the keys of the piano until the black and white blurred, becoming a slurry of grey. Her hands rested lightly on the keys, savoring the cool touch, waiting for something, anything, that would allow Phoebe to let go and just play. Forget everything in the noise once more, no tears fallen, no sadness shown.

This time, though, she couldn't. Everything in her heart rebelled against the act, such a simple act, of pressing down. Feeling something hot sliding down her cheeks, Phoebe lifted one hand to her face, wiped away the tear, stared at it in shock. Before she could think much about it, there was another flowing down her face, and then another, and then her cheeks were like a fiery ocean, salty and burning and never ending.

She didn't sob; no one had ever seen Phoebe Jenkins sob before, and now was no different. Still, no one had seen her cry before, either. This girl, as hard and strong as any Ravenclaw could be, had given up on tears long ago, concluding that they were illogical.

Maybe that was why she was crying now, she thought. Maybe it was because everything about him, everything about that damn James Potter was illogical, from the way that he could make her angry just by looking at her sideways, to the way that when he grinned at her, she felt her heart skip (not that she ever showed it), to the way that when she saw him, in that dark corner of the library, snogging Nameless Slag, she felt like an emotional floodgate had fallen open.

In the silence, she should have heard the door open, or maybe heard the near-silent sound of a cloak scraping the stone floor. Instead, Phoebe allowed herself one moment to bask in this feeling, this emotion that supposedly every teenaged girl had felt before. It was research, she assured herself, not making any move to wipe away the tears as they slid down her face, dropping onto her hands where they rested on her lap, her pajama pants.

That illogical James Potter, hidden under his Invisibility Cloak, watched in bewilderment as the girl sitting on the piano bench continued to cry. Stunned, he realized that she was no longer straight-backed and proud. No, she was hunched over her legs, her braid falling over her shoulder. And, in the room that he had come to associate with glorious sound, with something lovable about his archenemy, there was silence.

And then that James Potter realized something about Phoebe Jenkins, the icy girl that he'd teased for years. In joy she was noise, the best kind of noise in the world, a noise beautiful enough to keep him sneaking out, night after night, to listen to her joy. In sadness, she was silence, a silence that pierced his eardrums more than her loudest symphonies ever had.

Nonetheless, James thought, staring at her in wonder, it was a glorious kind of sadness.


	2. 12 Insanity

12. Insanity

Starring: Phoebe Jenkins and James Sirius Potter (Rose Weasley, Albus Potter, Autumn McKinley, and Scorpius Malfoy also mentioned)

"I hate you!" she screamed at him, no longer caring whether the entire school could hear her or not.

"Well, you're not very likable either, Jenkins!" he shouted back at her, an angry blush spreading across his cheeks.

She struggled to find words through her rage. "You—You are horrible! Everything about you is conceited, and—and ugly, and I can't stand you, Potter!"

"Coming from the ice queen," he hissed, only inches from her face. "How is it that of all the people in this school, I'm the only one who can make you angry?"

She saw the glint of satisfaction in his eyes, and that was all it took for her to slap him. He stumbled back, a shocked look paired with a red handprint spreading across his face.

"You," Phoebe said, her voice shaking with her anger, "Are horrible. You think you're just _so_ amazing, and you're not. And you know what, Potter? I can't wait until the end of the school year because then I will never, _ever, _have to look at your conceited face again."

Stepping closer to her, into her personal space, he leaned down a bit so that they were face to face. "Are you so sure, Jenkins? I mean, I'd hate for you to leave here without all of your fantasies fulfilled."

His voice, so mocking, paired with the way that his brown eyes bored into her soul, made her want to scream with frustration.

"Just because I happen to be single, and you haven't snogged anyone since breakfast, does not mean that I would even consider you as an option. The only reason you don't have the rest of the female population falling at your feet is because you've already snogged them, and they must've realized that it's not as good as they thought." She paused to take a furious breath, her voice still shaking with passion. "So don't think that you can just add me to your list of prizes won and thrown away, Potter."

As she turned and started to walk away, he threw his hands in the air, following her and ignoring the stares from everyone else in the courtyard. "You are so thick, you know that?" he shouted, a few steps behind her. "If you think that you're just some trophy that I want—,"

"Oh, sorry, I guess I'm not good enough to be one of you trophies," she said without turning around.

"No!" James looked around, lowering his voice, though it still shook with passion. "You're too good."

So saying, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, pressing his lips against hers, cupping his hands on her cheeks. Dropping the books she carried on the ground, Phoebe slid her hands into his hair. The rest of the students in the courtyard exchanged bewildered looks.

"So they wait until they're about to leave school forever to realize that they're madly in love?" Rose said, leaning against the stones.

Al Potter and his girlfriend exchanged a meaningful glance before looking at Rose and Scorpius once more.

"It's insanity," Autumn said, hiding a smile.


	3. 31 Flowers

31. Flowers

Starring: Phoebe Jenkins and James Sirius Potter

Humming quietly to herself, Phoebe entered the mostly unused musical room, closing the door with her foot. As she dropped her bag beside the door and started toward the piano, a flash of colour caught her eye. A confused look writ clearly on her face, she crossed the room slowly, very carefully taking the bouquet of flowers from the piano bench and picking up the note that lay with them.

_For the girl who creates such beautiful noise_

_From the boy that loves to listen_

She turned around quickly, looking over the room. In his usual spot beside the strings, James watched with satisfaction as Phoebe, convinced that no one was in the room, actually looked at the flowers. He'd been careful when picking them out, not wanting anything too cliché. That said, he couldn't be sure that they were her favorite flowers, but he was reminded of her when he saw the blue and white bouquet of cymbidium in the flower shop in Hogsmeade, so he bought it, hoping that she wouldn't burn them if it was from an anonymous source.

James watched in wonder as she smiled, a sweet, innocent smile that he had never seen on her before. Touching the blue and silver ribbon that was tied around the flower stems, she looked around the room once more, her eyes passing right over him. Suddenly, James wished that he could take off the cloak, wished that maybe she wouldn't burn the flowers if she knew they were from him. Still, it was nice to think that he was the cause for that sweet smile, he thought as he watched her sit down at the piano bench, setting the flowers oh-so-gently on the bench beside her.

"If you're here," she said, her voice so soft, not even resembling the harsh voice that she normally used, "This is for you."

And then she was playing again, and James couldn't think anymore, because she'd done it again. She'd stolen his heart with her music, and now James, the famous James Sirius Potter, fancied a girl who hated him, but at times like this, he only wanted to buy her more flowers, enough flowers that maybe that sweet smile would stay on her face for just a little bit longer.

**I might start these guys' story soon. Right now, they seem to be the only people I can write these themes about. Reviews are rewarded with big smiles!**


	4. 33 Expectations

33. Expectations

Starring: Phoebe Jenkins and James Sirius Potter

Phoebe leaned against the balcony, feeling the usual uncomfortable tingling in her stomach. The astronomy tower was very high up, she reflected, looking down and feeling her head spin. She quickly took a step back, turning her head when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Smoothing her hair down, Phoebe tried to think of some excuse for the prefect that was about to top the stairs and chew her out. When the person who topped the stairs walked in, though, she was surprised into silence.

"P-Potter," she said shakily, staring at him.

He gave her that grin of his, and as had been happening much too often lately, her heart skipped a beat.

"What are you doing up here, Phoebe?" he asked her, his eyes guarded despite the wide grin that split his face.

"I-I-I—," she started, still struggling to think of something, but the way that he kept looking at her was making her dizzy. _That's silly_, she thought absently. _He's been giving you long looks for years_.

Maybe it was the fact that now it felt like he was x-raying her, cutting through her muscle and bones and examining her heart to see how she worked.

"If you're going to be out after hours, you should at least have an excuse prepared for the prefects," he said, running a hand through his hair and continuing to look at her like that, like he was almost _scared _of her.

"I didn't expect to run into prefects," she finally managed, noting that her voice sounded a little breathless. "Matter of fact, I didn't expect to run into anyone."

James shrugged, still looking at her like that, and suddenly Phoebe couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded, trying to ignore the way that she wished he would just stop being so bloody difficult to understand.

"Like what?" His voice was uncharacteristically soft and careful.

"Like you're trying to read my heart, or, or like you're almost afraid of me." Phoebe wrapped her arms around her stomach. James didn't say anything, but he looked away from her eyes. "Y-you're afraid of me? Why?"

"I didn't expect it would be so hard for you to figure out," he said quietly, still not looking at her.

Now that his gaze wasn't on her, Phoebe suddenly missed it, missed the fire that it made burn in her blood.

Taking a step closer to him, she said, "I guess it's just been a night for proving our expectations wrong. Besides, you should probably know that I'm not good at figuring you out."

His eyes shot to hers again and a smile tugged at his lips. "Just me?"

Giving a smile in an attempt to hide the fact that her heart was beating so fast it hurt, she said, "Mainly you, yeah."

"I didn't expect that," he said quietly.

"Well, you're the most illogical person I've ever met. Everything you do, everything you make me feel, it's illogical." Realizing that she'd said more than she wanted, Phoebe covered her mouth, wishing she could take the words back.

James searched her face, took a step forward so that there was barely any space left between them. "What do I make you feel that's so illogical?"

When she didn't answer, he removed her hands from her lips, gently threading his fingers through hers. She looked down at their hands, wishing that there was a book that explained why her heart beat so fast when she was with James.

"Well?" James said, so quietly that she almost didn't hear him. "Are you going to tell me?"

Pulling her hands gently out of his, Phoebe ignored the look of defeat on his face that immediately appeared on his face.

Her voice barely more than a breath, she whispered, "This."

Placing one hand on his cheek, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. Rather quickly, she pulled back, turning her face away so that she wouldn't see the look on his face when he laughed at her, when he assured her that he could do better.

Instead, he only said, "I wasn't expecting that."

And then she stopped caring how illogical it was because he was kissing her, and at that moment that was the only thing that mattered.

**It doesn't follow the prompt exactly, but I still like it. Reviews are loved!**


	5. 60 Rejection

60. Rejection

Starring: James Sirius Potter and Phoebe Jenkins

His heart was pounding so fast that he was sure any second it would pop right out of his chest, land at her feet, and beg for her to hold it with her beautiful hands, cradle it with those fingers that could make such beautiful music, because he was finally kissing her. Suddenly, James was sure, more than sure, that he loved her, that she held a power over him that was terrifying and exhilarating. Feeling joy seeping into his every being, he held her close to him, his hands shaking slightly whenever he touched her. Her hands were in his hair, and it was perfect, and if anyone tried to make this moment end, he would curse them into oblivion.

For once in his life, he was perfectly content with just being James Sirius Potter.

Then, she froze. A bare millisecond later, she had shoved him away, her face angrier than he had ever seen it. His heart screamed her name, cried out for her. As he searched her face, her beautiful face, James realized that she looked close to tears, and he wanted to do whatever he could to make her happy, to take away the pain and anger and bitterness that was filling her blue eyes. Without thinking, he reached out to touch her, and she flinched away.

James withdrew his hand like he had been burned.

Phoebe seemed to struggle for words. "So I guess you can check me off you list now, Potter."

Her voice, thick with tears, along with the use of his surname, made him flinch. His heart was still screaming, still wishing that her fingers would stroke it, take away his pain. He tried—oh, how he tried—to force words out of his mouth, but however much he tried, he couldn't say a word.

She swallowed. "So that's it then, isn't it? Finally got your prize." He wished he could close his eyes, but they stayed open, and every sign of pain that he saw on her face increased his own. "Don't touch me again, Potter. You may have snogged me, but I'm not some addle-brained bimbo that will fall for you—for that, ever again."

With that said, she waved her wand, causing her books to fly up into her arms, and she walked away, stepping on his heart as she left. James touched the hole in his chest, wondering if his heart could be put back inside, but his heart, still striving for her, no longer wanted to live in his chest. No, it wanted to live forever in the careful hands of the beautiful Ravenclaw with trust issues.

The only problem was that he'd given her everything, placed himself in her hands, and she had put a whole new meaning to the term 'broken heart'. The ancient Madame Pomfrey would say that it was shattered, not a clean break, and would be quite difficult to heal.

If it ever did.


	6. 14 Smile

14. Smile

Starring: James Sirius Potter and Phoebe Jenkins

Everything could be blamed on that bloody gorgeous smile.

James had this theory that the only reason he couldn't take his eyes off that icy Ravenclaw was because she so rarely smiled. That wouldn't be such a bad thing, but when she did smile, when it was sincere, it was probably one of the most beautiful things he'd ever seen. The worst part of it was that James could never be on the receiving end of that smile, no matter how hard he tried. No, she was always granting it to one of those idiots that would give her roses—roses, for crying out loud! How cliché could they get?—and ask her out for Hogsmeade.

He took his eyes off her and tried to focus on his cousins, all of them laughing and generally causing chaos. Normally, he wouldn't care, but right now, all he wanted was to hear what she was saying, understand what was making that small, endearing smirk grow on the side of her face. James' eyes kept flicking back to her, watching as her friends all stood, waving at the people that they left behind.

She had stayed, and that was when James registered the boy that was sitting beside her, talking animatedly. With growing dread, he watched as that boy took her hand and kissed it, smiling up at her in a way that made James' blood boil.

"Phoebe, come on!" one of her friends called from the doorway of the Great Hall.

She pulled her hand out of the boy's grasp, and, to James' relief, she didn't smile at the swine. Instead, she tugged on the end of her brown braid as she walked away, tried to swipe some of the strands that had escaped it out of her face.

"James, let's get to class, mate," his cousin, Fred Weasley II, said.

Without really answering, James grabbed his bag and let Fred lead him through the halls, his gaze focused on a group of Ravenclaw girls. Abruptly, one of the girls' bags split at the seam, spilling books onto the floor. Fred turned the corner to go to Charms, but James continued forward, not listening to his cousin's protests.

"Tell Professor I'll be a bit late," she was saying, waving her friends forward as she gathered up her books.

Trying not to think about the fact that she was no doubt going to jinx him, he knelt beside her, waving his wand and cleaning up the spilt ink easily. She looked up in surprise, and he was struck by the way that her eyes were the exact colour of blue that was on her uniform. A few wisps of that peculiarly chocolate-like hair were falling in her face, not quite managing to hide to shocked expression on her face when she recognized him. Trying to stop thinking about how close they were, he handed her a stack of books.

"You might want to reinforce the bag with magic since you're taking so many classes," he said as nonchalantly as possible.

"I hadn't really thought about that," she said, hugging her books close to her.

James gave her a small smile and stood, hitching his bag higher on his shoulder before starting down the hall, his heart pounding with success, with the high that came every to that he got a little bit too close to her.

"Potter!"

He turned, waiting for the jinx that was about to come.

"Er, thanks."

James nodded and grinned before heading off to class.

_That's progress, at least_, he thought to himself.

**Hello, everyone! Thanks to my lovely reviewers, slytheringirl123 and PSdancer54 (I type your name so often that I no longer have to think about it!), who put smiles. I hope that you like this chapter. I just felt the urge to put another up, and this was the only one that I had completed. If you guys don't mind, would you give me some preferences for which themes you want me to do next? The list is easily found via Google; just type in 100 Themes Challenge. I may post their story fairly soon, depending on how my other story, Of Tumns, Broomsticks, and Love, turns out. As always, I love everyone who reads this, and I love reviews as much as James loves Phoebe's smile, especially those which tell me of my stories' flaws. **

**Yours writerly,**

**WNF**


	7. 23 Cat

23. Cat

James was, for once in his life, actually using the library for its intended purpose, when he heard the unmistakable sound of purring coming from below him. Following the sound to its source, he knelt down and grinned at the cat that was rubbing itself against the books there. Meowing loudly, the pure-white cat, her belly unmistakably swollen with pregnancy, sauntered over and began rubbing herself against James' leg.

"What are you doing here, little lady?" James murmured, rubbing the cat behind the ears. "Get lost?"

The cat meowed again, and James reached down to pick her up gently. Cradling her against his chest, James looked around as if the cat's owner would be in sight before sighing. He rubbed the cat's ears fondly, knowing that he'd seen it before, but unable to remember with whom.

"Lady?" a voice called softly through the library.

The cat's ears perked up, and she swiveled her head to stare at the direction the voice came from before looking at James with an unmistakable look that read, _Well, are you going to carry me over there or not?_ Smirking slightly, James followed the sound of the voice, locating the source only a few aisles away.

_You have got to be kidding me_, was his only thought when he saw the owner.

"Potter?" Phoebe Jenkins said incredulously. "How did you end up with Lady?"

"She, er, wandered into the library, I guess," James said, aware that a blush was creeping up his neck from the intensity of Phoebe's stare. "And I just, sort of, erm, picked her up?"

Hiding a smile, Phoebe walked forward, stroking the cat—Lady—when she stopped in front of James. "Are you sure you picked her up?" she teased him lightly. "You don't sound so certain."

Regaining a bit of his cool, James grinned down at her. "She might have jumped on me. You never know with cats."

"Oh, because she's in such a condition to be jumping on seventeen-year-old boys," Phoebe said, rolling her eyes.

Shrugging, James tried in vain to detach Lady from the front of his shirt, but she had her claws sunk in, purring manically. Looking at Phoebe in desperation, he was disturbed to see a small smile stretching over the girls face at his discomfort.

"Think this is funny?" he asked her, scowling.

"A little bit, yeah."

"Would you mind getting your stubborn cat off me anyway?"

Rolling her eyes, Phoebe stepped even closer to James, cooing gently to the very pregnant cat. James had to remind himself to breathe as she placed her hands on his chest, albeit only to slowly remove the cat's claws from his shirt. Still, even through his sweater he could swear he felt the warmth of her skin, and he couldn't help but think that she was closer than she'd ever willingly come to him before.

Granted, she was trying to unlatch her cat's claws from his sweater, but it was progress.

Focusing his eyes on the cat so that he would stop thinking of Phoebe, James very gently continued to stroke the cat, spurring Lady to purr loudly. Phoebe paused in what she was doing, her thin fingers still resting on his sweater, to look down at the cat in confusion. She looked back up at James, a crease between her eyebrows.

"Have you been using catnip for a prank?" she asked suspiciously.

James laughed. "What, you don't think that animals are just drawn to my amazing charm?"

"Generally, when Lady sees a male, she either runs away or attacks." She paused. "Obviously, she's bound to pop any time now, so she's not likely to do either, but I still find it odd that she's _purring_."

"Why doesn't she like guys?" James asked, still stroking Lady.

Phoebe went back to gently pulling the cat's claw out of his sweater. "My brother's not the nicest of blokes. Neither are his friends, now you mention it." Before James could say anything, the last of Lady's claws had been pulled out of his shirt, and the very pregnant cat was being cradled in her owner's arms. "I should probably get her back to the dorms before she decides to pop."

"What are you going to do with the kittens?" James asked her, suddenly missing the white cat.

"Probably just give them away once their old enough." She looked up at him with a small smile. "Would you know anyone who wants a kitten?"

"I'll ask around," James said, smiling down at her in what he suddenly realized was a flirtatious way.

Even more surprising than this development was the fact that Phoebe Jenkins, the girl known school-wide as the Ice Queen, seemed to have a blush appearing mysteriously on her face. James couldn't really see for certain since she was hiding her face in her cat's fur.

"Well, er, thanks, Potter," Phoebe said quietly, slowly turning away.


	8. 81 Pen and Paper

81. Pen and Paper

Starring: James Sirius Potter and Autumn McKinley

In two towers on opposite sides of a castle, two very different teens were writing letters. Oddly enough, despite their oh-so-obvious differences, the two were writing letters that were disturbingly similar. As a matter of fact, one would think that these two had consulted each other on what to write.

In a tower filled with students quietly talking, playing chess, or doing schoolwork, the girl sighed, staring at the blank parchment. Swiping a piece of chocolate-like hair out of her face, she closed her eyes and tried to think of a way to put her thoughts into words. Abruptly, she stood and fled to her dormitory, needing an escape from the calm that pervaded the common room. Once she was seated on her bed, she was, to her disappointment, still having trouble with summoning the courage to write the words. Finally, she resigned to write, something, anything, to get this over with.

_Dear James,_

_You're probably laughing as you read this. I mean, here I am, one of your worst enemies, writing you a letter that, if I can summon the courage, will tell you something that I should have known for a long time but only recently realized. You see, (goodness, this is harder than I thought it would be) I think I might love you, James. It's illogical, and everything that I've learned over the years protests against it, but I can't seem to shake you off. Everything you do affects me in ways that no one else has ever done._

_ Well, now that I've confessed my heart to you, the small dosage of courage that I once had is now long lost, so I find myself ending this letter. _

_Please don't laugh too hard when you tell me that the feelings aren't mutual._

_Your once-enemy turned wanna-be girlfriend,_

_Phoebe Jenkins_

Unbeknownst to her, a boy, seated in another tower of the same castle, was writing a letter that sounded almost exactly the same. All around him were students talking loudly, playing pranks, and causing chaos, and suddenly, the seventeen-year-old couldn't take it any longer. Standing on the table, he shouted above the noise.

"SHUT IT!"

"Or what?" a snarky fifth-year asked.

"I'll turn you all to ferrets," the tense seventh-year said, fingering his wand.

Exchanging looks, the students returned to their work, much quieter than before. The boy sat back down and dipped his quill in ink. Resisting the urge to groan, he put quill to parchment.

_Dear Phoebe,_

_I'd try to sound poetic, but I've never been good at that. Basically, I just need to admit that I am completely and totally in love with you._

_Please don't break my heart._

_Your once-enemy turned besotted admirer,_

_James Potter_

Both of them satisfied with their work, the pair began running to the library, both eager to send their letters before their courage ran out. Unfortunately for them, fate is cruel, and the boy was delayed a bit, causing the girl to arrive before him, something that should not have happened based on the layout of the castle. Just as she was calling down an owl, the boy rounded the corner and skidded to a halt when he saw her. Aware that she was being watched, she turned and froze.

The pair stared at each other, neither moving for several seconds. Then, any of the courage that she might have summoned sank to the floor, and the girl, with one last look over her shoulder at the boy, turned and ran through the halls, pausing only to stuff her note into the pocket of her jeans. The boy, still as pale as a sheet, also lost all of his courage. Feeling discouraged again, he turned and walked dejectedly down the halls, stuffing his note in his pocket.

Fortunately, neither remembered to remove their notes, and all would come to head on a day, months later, when they were both wearing the same jeans once more, and fate played one of its rare kind hands.


	9. 92 All that I have

92. All That I Have

"Is anyone there?" Phoebe called sharply to the room after she heard the unmistakable sound of a foot scraping the floor.

She probably would never know how torn James Potter felt in the seconds before he threw his father's Invisibility Cloak to the side. When he stood in front of her, all he could think of was how much it hurt when she hated him, how hard it was to be in the same room with her when he could practically feel the loathing radiating from her body. Well, perhaps that wasn't all. There was a part of him, broken and weak though it might be, that was thinking of how beautiful she was, of the way her eyes lit up when she learned something new, of the crease between her eyebrows that appeared when she was trying to figure out one of the impossible enigmas of the world.

Most importantly, though, he was thinking of the way his heart stopped every time she looked at him, of the fact that she was the only girl in the entire school that could make him feel like an awkward, stuttering first year all over again. And that was why, as a shocked expression spread over her features, he didn't let her say anything.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not, not really. I ought to be, for invading your privacy for most of the school year, but if I hadn't, I don't think I would have figured out something that I should have known for years." Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his mind of how much he wanted to kiss her, to just let it all go and hold her. "Phoebe, when I'm with you, I'm _happy_. More than happy, actually. Even though sometimes you're horrible, you're the only one I know who gives it to me straight, who doesn't give a care that I'm James Sirius freaking Potter. Every time I see you, I want to be close to you. You're amazing and brilliant and beautiful, and you probably think I'm a raving loon, but I think I love you."

She blinked twice, her mouth slightly parted.

Feeling his heart begin to beat erratically, James continued in a softer voice. "But if you still hate me, if you can't be happy when I'm around, I'll leave."

Now she just looked extremely confused, and James inwardly cursed himself, wondering how horrible it would be to ask her to Obliviate him. Tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear, she just looked at him, and James realized that the crease between her eyebrows was back.

"I only asked if anyone was there," she said finally, still looking completely confused.

There she went again, breaking his heart. James resisted the urge to moan and clutch his chest, where the offending muscle was beating painfully fast, as though it was desperate to prove to Phoebe its worth. She wrapped her arms around her stomach protectively, still looking as though he was a problem that she couldn't find the answer to.

"James," she said, tilting her head to the side and gazing at him with calculating eyes. "What do you want to do right now?" He gave her a confused look, and she clarified. "When you look at me, what do you want to do?"

James closed his eyes, slowly reopened them, and answered honestly. "Right now I want to kiss you."

She seemed to change immediately from an analytical researcher to what she really ought to be, just a shy, seventeen-year-old girl. James took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart.

"You can kiss me if you want," she said, so softly that James almost didn't hear her.

"What?" he asked, eyebrows rising almost to his hairline.

"If you want to kiss me, you have my permission," Phoebe said, arms still wrapped tightly around herself.

Blinking in surprise, James took a hesitant step forward, waiting for her to suddenly take back her words, or worse, laugh. She didn't do anything, though, so he crossed the room to stand in front of her. For the first time in a long time, James was nervous, borderline terrified, of kissing a girl. _That has to mean something_, he thought, moving so that there were mere inches between them.

Without thinking, he latched his eyes onto hers, focusing on the blue in an attempt to calm his beating heart. Lifting one hand to her soft cheek, he suddenly became aware that he was trembling slightly. James couldn't stop thinking about how close they were, of how he could smell her perfume, of the fact that they were practically touching. Closing his eyes, James tried to remember the last time he'd been nervous to touch a girl, but nothing came to mind.

It was unsurprising that his mind went blank, though, since Phoebe had just rested one of her hands on his chest, right over his heart.

Opening his eyes, James stared at her, allowing himself to focus on the blush that had crept onto her cheeks, on the small scar that she had right beside her ear. Seeming to note that he was once more frozen, she raised her eyebrow, that horrible smirk growing on the side of her face.

"Nervous, Potter?" she whispered, and at any other time, she would have been able to fool him, but he could see right through her cocky façade now.

Feeling his confidence growing a bit, he rubbed one thumb across her cheek, brought his other hand up to rest on her waist. She blinked twice, the smirk disappearing as she looked up at him, eyes wide and innocent. Phoebe, swallowing inconspicuously, rose to her tiptoes as James leaned down, her hands curling in the front of his shirt and making his heartbeat go at a much faster rate than was healthy. With only centimeters between their lips, James watched her eyelids flutter shut, and, just before their lips met, he shut his own.

If he hadn't learned ages ago that magic was mostly contained inside a person and their wand by the time they reached their teens, James would have sworn that magic had exploded at their touch. Electricity spiked his blood, soared through his veins, making him feel as though he was soaring on some sort of high. Moving his hand subconsciously to her glorious hair, James marveled at how they fit together, at the way they moved in synch.

Much sooner than he really wanted to, James pulled away. Resting his forehead against hers, he tried to catch his breath, aware that she was doing the same.

"Wow," he finally whispered, opening his eyes to find her staring at him.

She smiled and nodded slightly. "Why in Merlin's name did we have to wait seven years to do that?"

He closed his eyes again, pressing his lips to hers once more. She responded, hands tightening in his shirt and pulling him forward so that there was no longer any space between them. Before a few seconds had passed, though, James heard the creaking of the door opening. Acting on instinct, he turned, shielding Phoebe and pulling out his wand as he did so, a glare already fixed in place for whoever had opened the door.

"James, what in Merlin are you doing?" asked a bewildered Gryffindor prefect.

"Snogging a beautiful girl," James said coolly, glancing back to see Phoebe rolling her eyes. "Why do you ask?"

The prefect continued to gape at them, probably taking in their mussed hair, red faces, and semi-swollen lips.

"No answer, then?" Phoebe said, her voice cool and calm as she sat down at the piano bench. "If that's the case, do you mind? We were kind of busy."

Even James turned to gape at her when she said that. The prefect, still looking shaken, turned and fled. James settled beside Phoebe with a sigh.

"You know," he murmured, gently touching her cheek, "This'll be to the papers by morning."

She leaned into his hand, closing her eyes. "Well, is the famous James Potter finally going to get an _actual _girlfriend?"

He grinned at that, wrapping one arm around her waist and hugging her.

"If you consider a girlfriend to be the only person who can keep my heart tied in knots all day, then of course, love."

"You're all that I have," she admitted, resting her head on his chest. "So, obviously, ditto."

"Well, if it's _that_ obvious," he whispered, "You could have let me know sooner, my lovely stubborn blockhead."

Despite the fact that she had punched him gently in the arm, James could still feel her smiling into his chest, and, oddly enough, James wasn't at all surprised by how enjoyable this position was.

**Hello again, my freaky lovelies! **

**As ever, I love you if you're reading this, and I'll love you all the more if you leave me a review (likes my amazing reviewers, PSdancer54 and slytheringirl123) to let me know. As a matter of fact, how about I do a theme for every review that I get? Sound good to you? :) If you would like, let me know in your reviews what themes you want me to do next, and I'll get to it.  
**

**Writerly yours,  
**

**WNF  
**


	10. 86 Seeing Red

86. Seeing Red

Starring: James Sirius Potter, Phoebe Jenkins, and a nameless drunk Gryffindor

It all started when he shoved her against the wall.

If there's one thing that I hate, it's watching a bloke, big and strong, start throwing around girls just because they turned the jerk down. That, in general, makes my blood boil, and there have been plenty of detentions I've served for jinxing boys that do that to the girls of Hogwarts into an unrecognizable state. But this… This was different.

She had just been walking to her dormitory, yeah? Minding her own business, reading a book as she went. Of course, she's no idiot, and when she heard someone round the corner in front of her, she pulled her nose out of the book and looked around the dark hallway. Seeing that it was just a sixth-year Gryffindor, she kept on walking, tucking her book into her bag as she went. She probably didn't see it, but I caught the way that the bloke—his name escapes me right now—was letting his eyes roam up and down her body, the way that a small smirk grew on the side of his face as he started to walk beside her.

Yeah, she's gorgeous, and I've been guilty of letting my eyes roam a bit over her, but the way that he looked at her wasn't just appreciative; it was full of lust and a predatory desire. But I knew that this girl was Phoebe Jenkins, legendary for her dressing-down of the majority of Hogwart's males, and she could handle herself, so I stayed under the Invisibility Cloak and decided to wait it out.

Still, when the wanker grabbed her arm, I nearly exploded. _How dare you touch her, you filthy little…_

"Take your hand off me," she said, jerking away from him, her voice sharp and clear as a few strands of dark hair fell out of her braid to gently frame her face.

_That's my girl._

"What, don't you want a little bit of love, deary?" he slurred, and it was only then that I recognized the way he walked for that of someone who was drunk.

Mentally smacking myself on the head, I cursed myself for allowing my cousins to bring Firewhiskey to the victory party.

"Don't make me hurt—," she started to say, but Drunkard had already pulled his wand and performed Silencio on her.

Everything in me screamed to stop it right there, but I wanted to give her a chance to get out of this herself.

Of course, she had reached for her wand, eyes flashing dangerously. Then the resident Drunkard did something that pissed me off even more than his earlier crime of touching her arm. Attaching his filthy, unworthy paws to her upper arms, he shoved her back against the wall, pressing himself against her as he did so.

As I saw one of his hands start leave her arm to grope elsewhere, my vision flashed red. Blood pounded in my ears, and, no longer thinking, I threw off the Invisibility Cloak and charged at him, tackling him to the ground and releasing all of my pent-up fury onto his face via my fists. In some primal place in my mind, I kept thinking of the flash of fear that I had seen in her—beautiful, glorious, piercing, amazing—eyes, and I hated this boy more than I had ever hated anything before in my life.

After a while, my fists went numb, and he stopped crying for mercy, instead merely groaning every now and then. Going against the urges of every fiber in my being, I stood, trying to ignore the urge to maim, to hurt, to _kill_, the person who had _dared_ to touch Phoebe, my Phoebe. With a final, well-aimed kick to his ribs, I hissed a few threats to him, which urged him to crawl away, finally pulling himself to his feet and staggering off into the darkness.

Abruptly, my rage disappeared, and I couldn't think about anything more than _her_, than the reason that my knuckles were split painfully. Turning quickly, I jogged back to her, concern filling me when I saw the way that she had buried her head in her knees. Kneeling beside her, I hesitantly touched her shoulder, pulling away quickly when she flinched away. She looked up at me, her blue eyes shiny, shinier than they ought to be, and I couldn't help it.

Reaching out to touch her face with my hands, I whispered, "Are you okay?"

She placed on of her pale hands over mine, nodding and sniffling. "Thanks. You know, for going all protective bodyguard on him."

Her voice shook, and I decided that now was as good a time as any to promise her something.

"I will _never_ let anyone hurt you, do you hear me?" I whispered to her, gently stroking her cheek with my thumb.

Looking up at me, she allowed a single tear to fall.

"Well, go on and hold me, you little arsehole," she whispered, her voice thick with tears that she held back.

I complied all too happily, feeling immensely selfish for the smile that was wide on my face.

**Eh. Not my favorite, but I still needed to post something. As ever, thanks to PSdancer54, who is a constant reviewer for me.**

** Read and review!**

**-WNF  
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